GAUNTLETS.
The earliest form after chain-mail was of cuir-bouilli, both plain and fortified with scale work, and such largely prevailed in the thirteenth century, and even later. An example occurs on the tomb of Sir Richard de Burlingthorpe, of about 1310. The earliest form of plate gauntlets occurs in the middle of the fourteenth century, and shows articulated fingers—see an example on a brass of Thomas Cheyne, Esq. (1368), at Drayton Beauchamp, Bucks; after which mitten gauntlets of laminated plates, with a separate thumb-guard and peaked cuffs, prevailed. Late in the fourteenth century an attempt is made to copy the finger nails. An example occurs on the monument of Sir Robert de Grey, at Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire. Late in the fifteenth century, the earlier form, with articulated fingers, was reverted to. Gadlings, or knuckle and finger spikes, were in vogue throughout the century—a truly dangerous weapon of offence for the mêlée. Again, later we have the fingers covered with overlapping plates, very narrow and flexible. Another common form, though late, is the elbow gauntlet. There is a pair in the Castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and there are others at Naworth Castle and in the author’s collection. A locking gauntlet was invented in the latter part of the sixteenth century, the object of which was to prevent the weapon from being knocked out of the hand, to which it was fastened by a hook and staple. It is stated that this gauntlet was often barred in single combats, it certainly was in foot-tournaments. There is an example of this contrivance in a suit in the Tower of London. Gauntlets were sometimes made of brass.